Stanford goes OT to win a thriller and will face Northwestern for NCAA women’s golf title
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Stanford junior Megha Ganne made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole Tuesday to take down top-ranked amateur Lottie Woad, sending the Cardinal to the championship match against Northwestern in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
Northwestern advanced in another nail-biter when Dianna Lee outlasted Kiara Romero on the 18th hole for a 2-up victory to give the Wildcats a shot at their first national title.
Stanford is going for its third NCAA title in the last four years and can become the first team to win back-to-back since it went to match play in 2015.
It took all the Cardinal had against Florida State, with three of five matches going overtime.
Paula Martin Sampredo and Kelly Xu won big for two points. Stanford had to win one of three matches that went extra holes.
Ganne had to watch Woad stand over a 15-foot birdie putt from the collar on the 18th at La Costa for the win. She watched again on the first extra hole as Woad narrowly missed a birdie chance from 20 feet.
Woad missed from about 12 feet on the 20th hole, and Gagne rolled in her winning putt, her seventh birdie of the round. Woad made six birdies.
“She world No. 1 for a reason,” Gagne said of Woad, who won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last year. “I was so excited for the matchup. I knew a day like today, with seven birdies, was exactly what it would take.”
Moments earlier, Alexandra Gazzoli won with a par to give Florida State its first point. Mirabel Ting of Florida State and Andrea Revuelta of Stanford each made par on the first extra hole and halved the match when Stanford was certain to advance.
Stanford is the No. 1 seed after a record score to finish 27 shots ahead of Oregon is qualifying for match play. It was behind briefly in the quarterfinals before beating Virginia. Florida State eliminated Southern California.
Oregon lived on the edge all day. In the quarterfinals, the Ducks looked to be on their way until Tong An lost a 3-up lead with six holes to play in a match that went extra holes. An redeemed herself with a short putt on the 20th hole to beat Lauren Kim of Texas.
Oregon and Northwestern each won two matches. In the last one, Lee was 2 up with two to play when she three-putted from 35 feet to lose the 17th. Both were able to reach the par-5 18th in two with the tee moved forward. Romero went long into a bunker, facing a downhill shot. She conceded the match after two tries getting out of the bunker with a delicate shot.
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